The ancient remake advice is ‘remake something terrible,’ and New Line is certainly following that to the letter by hiring Scott Zebielski to direct a remake of the ’80s comedy Police Academy. But is there any chance that this version of the story will actually be any better than the ’84 one? That original is the story of a bunch of bumbling misfits who train to become cops when their city, hard up for extra help, opens the Academy to anyone. What wonders will the remake offer?

If there is an advantage to hiring Zebielski to make this version, it is that he actually went to the police academy in LA, and is a reserve officer in West Hollywood. So maybe this will be a staggeringly realistic depiction of the rigors of police training. With a Steve Guttenberg cameo, of course. Instead, we’ll probably get a post-economic downturn comedy aimed at the 99%. Which wouldn’t be so bad, but I can’t expect too much from a Police Academy movie.

New Line might be hoping to spawn a new series, since the original generated six sequels. I can’t speak for the quality of the sequels, because I haven’t seen any since I was very young, but if they’re anything like the first film I’d pass. When Police Academy streamed on Netflix a few months ago I gave it a spin and could stomach about 25 minutes of the lame jokes and Michael Winslow’s beatboxing shenanigans. [Deadline]